Wining & Dinning at La Favola – Newtown, Sydney

It seems like everyone we ran into in Sydney recommended that we checked out Newtown. Newtown is a quirky suburb in Sydney central full of all sorts of delights from clothing boutiques to bars and exciting looking eating spots. One of those restaurants is La Favola. This authentic Italian eatery it literally oozing Italian charm – friendly, hospitable, generous, good-humoured, tasteful, and family oriented.

Naomi and I are extremely grateful that the team at Australian Good Food Guide have such good taste! AGFG organised a complimentary dinner for Naomi and I, and it’s safe to say our first Newtown dining experience was one to remember! A big thanks to owner and chef Fabio Stefanelli and the Favola team for looking after us so well and making us laugh so much!

Naturally prior to our visit, I had a good squizz at both the wine and food menus, however, I was still no closer to choosing what I wanted to order. Thankfully our absolutely wonderful waitress (I didn’t get her name!) did help point us in the right direction of what to go for and helped us choose wines to match what we ordered.

Prepare to drool…

The Favola Wine List

Before I delve into the deliciousness of the wine menu, it’s also worth noting Favola is a BYO spot. Corkage is $12 per bottle.

We thought we’d start our evening off with an Aperol Spritz (how can you not really?) and one of Favola’s signature cocktails – it blew my mind! Yes, those are cherry tomatoes in it! Alongside the tomatoes there’s basil, lemon, white rum and brown sugar. It’s Favola’s take on a mojito I reckon. So good!

It’s good to see the wine list has a good sprinkling of Italian wines with a Prosecco to a Pinot Grigio, Pecorino, a Chianti and also a Primitivo. There are also some wines from Victorian wineries on the list too. Glass prices range from $9-16, check out the menu below.

At the end of the meal I was desperately in need of a digestive (sooo full) so we did indulge in a trio of Amalfi Coast Limoncello. They have quite a range of limoncello so if this is your thing, definitely ask for more details from the staff ;)

The Favola Menu

Oh the food! I was literally rolling out the restaurant by the end of our meal. It was such a foodie highlight from our weekend in Sydney!

We decided to start with some of the fresh focaccia bread with garlic, oregano and rosemary alongside the fried calamari with aioli and lime as we sipped on our drinks. It was a nice start to the meal.

And if that wasn’t enough, we then shared a bowl full of the signature Dal Mare; slowed cooked calamari octopus ragout, king prawns, white wine, chilli and a touch of tomatoes. Also delicious!

I like how on the menu you firstly choose the type of pasta you want (rigatoni, casarecce, spaghetti, fusilli, paccheri or fettuccine) and then the type of sauce.

It’s a simple and straightforward menu that is executed to perfection!

Despite being chock-a-block full, there’s always room for dessert right? To match our limoncello flight we had some Cannolo Siciliano. It was the perfect end to the meal.

After this, I then suggested that Naomi and I walked back to Ultimo instead of catching a Uber, I needed the exercise!

The Favola Experience

The food and drinks are definitely on point at Favola. However for me, what makes Favola an amazing Sydney restaurant is that ‘Favola experience’! Fabio and his staff make this Newtown hot spot awesome. They are so welcoming, so friendly and you can tell they absolutely love what they do. 10/10 for customer service in my books!

You can also tell they have a loyal following. I am sure many people were regulars as we noticed Fabio going out of the kitchen to greet customers and engage in some friendly banter at various stages of the night.

We were lucky to be seated right beside the open kitchen so we could watch head chef and owner, Fabio at work and chat along the way. How cool is that!! I would highly recommend if you’re going to Favola, to try to nab one of these tables as it just adds to the awesome experience of dining there.

12 thoughts on “Wining & Dinning at La Favola – Newtown, Sydney”

Oh I can see why you needed that digestive after that meal! The food, especially the Dal Mar looks super. It’s not everyday you see restaurants like this, where you are as welcome as the locals. Kudos to Fabio!

My thoughts exactly Robin, customer service should be a top priority for any business! The food was delicious! I can’t wait for my next trip to Sydney so I can go back for another bowl of pasta and that delicious cherry tomato cocktail :p

There is nothing better than a great restaurant with regulars and a chef who pays attention to that. It only makes for more “regulars”. Good for atmosphere and good for business! And the food looked really delicious!

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I’m Casey and I LOVE wine. I am currently based in Gippsland (VIC, Australia) and started the Travelling Corkscrew wine blog over 8 years ago. Read my story here.

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